• Does it feel like “herding cats” when the individual players are gathered together?   [ ] yes [ ] no

• Do the key players in the system have unequal levels of information & power?  [ ] yes [ ] no

• Are very diverse types of people & professions (with different mental models) required to accomplish goals?  [ ] yes [ ] no

• Are formal links among the players loose or weak in many cases? 

[ ] yes [ ] no

• Does the intangible quality of what is produced (e.g., health or learning) create multiple different understandings of aims? 

[ ] yes [ ] no

• Does making the parts more efficient or effective at a local level often fail to improve system performance at higher levels? 

[ ] yes [ ] no

• Although organizational structure is well established, do “best practices” spread unevenly (or not at all) from local applications to other parts of the system?  [ ] yes [ ] no

• Have gaps and time lags in your operating environment (that may have permitted a more deliberate or linear approach) evaporated, reducing opportunities “to figure it out” or “get it right” as leaders?

[ ] yes [ ] no

• Does order unexpectedly emerge from the mess, despite what could be predicted by conventional requirements for tight control, coordination, and alignment?  [ ] yes [ ] no

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If you have answered “yes” to most of these questions, complexity-inspired management approaches may fit you and your situation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I suspect that by not merely accepting an unforeseeable

future, but by building it into my life, I may come closer

to living a true life than those who struggle against it. 

E.B. White

The only way out is through.

Robert Frost